Automatic reeling machine



Nov. 5, 1968 KOICHIRO KUBO ETAL 3,408,714

AUTOMATIC REELING MACHINE Filed June 23, 1967 FIG.4.

United States Patent O 3,408,714 AUTOMATIC REELING MACHINE Koichiro Kuboand Yojiro Murata, Kyoto, Japan, as-

signors to Shimadzu Seisakusho Ltd., Kyoto, Japan, a corporation ofJapan Filed June 23, 1967, Ser. No. 648,337

11 Claims. (Cl. 28-21) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An automatic reelingmachine including a plurality of reeling units each having a reel for asingle hank to be wound thereon, means for circulating the reeling unitsthrough an endless path and means for rotating each reel for windingthread thereon, said machine including means disposed adjacent theendless path for lacing said hanks on said reeling units.

This invention provides an automatic reeling machine which have aplurality of reeling units each having a reel of an axial length justenough for a single hank to be wound thereon and arranged to circulatealong an endless path so that as they circulate, the thread from acheese or bobbin is wound on each reel to form a hank thereon, which isautomatically laced and then removed from the reel.

There are known many types of reeling machines, which generally comprisea single reel cage elongated along the axis of rotation of the reelcage, on which many hanks are wound axially spaced a predetermineddistance apart. Improvements have hitherto been directed to increasingthe rotational speed of the reel cage and consequently the winding orreeling speed. However, with these known types of machines, the lacingof the finished hanks and the subsequent removal of the laced hanks fromthe reel cage are complicated and troublesome, and require much skill ofthe Worker. For example, the lacing, that is, binding of each one ormore leas in a hank with a thread has hitherto been manually performed.This requires much time and skill. For removal of laced hanks from thereel cage, the reel cage is deformed to reduce its diameter for thehanks thereon to be easily taken off the reel cage manually orotherwise. The mechanism for such selective reduction and restoration ofthe reel diameter is much complicated.

Another defect of the single elongated reel cage type of machines isthat it is very difficult to obtain uniform banks from the same singlemachine. Since many hanks are simultaneously wound on the same andsingle reel cage, if during the winding operation, one of the hankshappens to have its thread broken or cut olf, that hank would no longerbe wound, so that when the other hanks have been completed, that onehank would contain an insufficient quantity of thread. To avoid such anundesirable result, the machine must always be attended to by a workerduring the operation so that if any of the threads happens to be broken,the cut end of the thread from the cheese is manually wound onto therotating hank, or the machine is temporarily stopped to knot the cutends of the thread. This, however, greatly decreases the reelingefliciency.

To eliminate the above defects, the automatic reeling ice machine of theinvention is provided with a plurality of reeling units each having areel of an axial length just suflicient for a single hank to be woundthereon and arranged to circulate along an endless path so that reelingoperation is performed in each of the units individually as theycirculate. A lacing device is disposed adjacent the endless path so thatas the winding of a hank on each unit is finished, the device operatesto lace the finished hank. Also disposed adjacent the endless path is adevice for automatically removing the laced hank from the reel.

The invention will be better understood from the following descriptionof a preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals denote like parts and wherein;

FIG. 1 schematically shows the elongated reel cage of a known reelingmachine;

FIG. 2 is a schematic top plan view of a reeling machine embodying theinvention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view taken along line IIIIII' of FIG. 2, showingone reel unit;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view taken along line IV-IV' of FIG. 2, showing alacing device; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view taken along line VV of FIG. 2, showing a hankremover.

Referring now to the drawings, first to FIG. 1, there is shown a reelcage generally designated at RK and comprising a shaft S rotated by amotor M and supporting a plurality, say, six cage slats CS extendingparallel to the axis of the shaft. The slats are secured to the shaft bymeans of spokes SP and arranged circumferentially about the shaft at adistance therefrom. As shown the cage slats are elongated axially enoughfor a plurality, say, six hanks H to be wound thereon axially spaced adistance apart, with six cheeses C feeding the hanks, respectively. Thearrangement and structure is typical of the prior art reeling machines.

This invention, however, provides a fundamentally different arrangementas shown in FIG. 2. In accordance with the invention, a plurality ofreeling units RU are arranged to circulate along an endless path definedby a vertically spaced pair of endless guide rails GR (FIG. 3). Theunits RU are connected by means of an endless connecting member such asan endless chain EC passing about a pair of sprocket wheels SW and SW,one of which is connected to a drive motor DM. Adjacent the endless paththere are disposed a lacing device LD and a hank remover HR, both to bedescribed in detail later.

Turning to FIG. 3, each reeling unit RU comprises a body 10 having ontop thereof a cradle 11 for rotatably supporting a reel 12 at the outerend of the cradle. A support plate 13 is secured to the bottom of thebody 10 for rotatably supporting a cheese 14. A roller 15 is mounted onthe plate 13 for frictional contact with the lower guide rail G-R, whilea pair of rollers 16 and 16' are mounted on the upper part of the body10 for frictional contact with the upper guide rail GR. The threerollers 15, 16 and 16' are so arranged as to slidably mount the unit onthe two guide rails. The unit body 10 is secured to the endless chain ECby means of an angle member 17, so that as the chain runs, the unitscirculate along the guide rails GR. The cradle 11 is secured to the body10 by means of a pin 18, which also rotatably supports a roller 19 and apulley 20 secured to the roller for rotation therewith.

A pair of long drive rollers DR are arranged inside the opposed straightportions of the endless guide rails GR, so that as each reeling unit RUcomes to run straight along the rollers DR, the roller 19 of the reelingunit frictionally contacts them to be rotated thereby. The cradle 11 isprovided at the top end thereof with a pulley 21, to which the reel 12is secured for simultaneous rotation. A belt 22 passes around thepulleys 19 and 21 for drive connection to rotate the reel 12.

The reel 12 comprises a plurality, say, six radial arms each having atits outer end an axial extension just sufficient to hold a single hankthereon. A thread 14' from the cheese 14 is passed through guidesrollers 23 and 24 mounted on the body so as to be traversely wound onthe reel 12 to form a hank 25 as the unit circulates.

Turning now to FIG. 4, the lacing device LD comprises a body 26 movableon a pair of guide rails 27 extending substantially parallel with thestraight portion of the guide rails GR and also on a pair of guide rails28, only one of which is shown, extending perpendicularly to the guiderails 27. A drive motor 29 is mounted on the body 26 for selectivelymoving the body along the guide rails 27 and 28. A pair of racingneedles 30 and 31 are mounted on the body 26 extending perpendicularlyto each other and axially movable relative to the body 26 by means of asuitable mechanism enclosed therein. The needles 30 and 31 have a holethrough which a lacing thread from cheeses 32 and 33 is passed.

Normally the device LD is at a position farthest away from the rails GR,waiting for a reeling unit having a finished hank thereon to comearound, whereupon the device LD approaches the reeling unit on the rails28 as far as the hank 25 is positioned between the two lacing needles 30and 31 as shown in FIG. 4. As the reeling unit moves, say, in thedirection of an arrow X in FIG. 1, the device LD moves on the guiderails 27 in the same direction to follow the unit RU for some time,during which the lacing of the finished hank on the unit with thethreads 32' and 33 is performed, with the help of a knotter 34 mountedon the body 26.

When the lacing has been completed, the device LD returns to itsoriginal retired position to wait for a next reeling unit to cznearound. As the reeling unit further advances around the sprocket wheelSW, it comes in front of the hank remover HR. As shown in FIG. 5, thehank remover comprises a support 35 and an arm 36 swingable about apivot 37 secured at its lower end to the support. The arm 36 is providedat its outer end with a frame 38 in the form of an are extending abouttwothirds of a full circle and having a plurality, say, three radiallyinwardly extending L-shaped hooks 381, 38-2 and 38-3 for hooking thelaced hank olf the reel of the unit. The arrangement must be such thatwhen the arm 36 is swung into the path of the circulating reeling unit,the L-shaped hooks of the remover frame 38 are positioned just betweenthe radial arms of the reel 12, so that as the reel 12 moves from theobverse toward the reverse of the drawing shect (FIG. 5), the radialarms of the reel pass between the hooks, thereby leaving the hank 25hooked on the hooks. Then, the arm 36 is swung out of the path of thereeling unit back to its original position to wait for a next reelingunit with a laced hank to come around. The mechanism that effects suchswinging back and forth of the remover arm 36 may be enclosed in thesupport 35 and is well known to those skilled in the art that no furtherexplanation nor illustration will be necessary.

The lacing device and the hank remover may be operated manually by anattendant to the machine, or automatically by a suitable device that canautomatically detect the completion of the reeling of a hank on areeling unit and operate the lacing device and the hank remover.

It is now believed to have become apparent that the characteristic ofthe invention lies in the provision of a plurality of reeling unitsarranged to circulate along an 4 endless path so as to perform reelingoperation individually as they circulate, with a lacing device and ahank remover disposed adjacent the endless path so as to perform theirrespective functions. Accordingly, the invention has various advantagesover the prior art single elongated reel cage type of machines. Theinvention greatly increases the reeling efficiency. Manual labor forlacing and removal of the laced hanks is dispensed with. Hanks are woundindividually on the separate reeling units, so that even when one ormore of the reeling units have to be stopped due to the thread, forexample, having been broken, the other units can continue their reelingoperation, and that the knotting of. the cut ends of the thread on thestopped unit can bedone with ease. Furthermore, with the machine of theinvention, itis .possiblelo obtain substantially uniform hanks, that is,hanks containing equal quantities'of thread. Since reeling is performedon individual reeling units, it is possible to selectively remove onlythose finished hanks, while leaving unfinished ones on the reeling unitsuntil they have been finished.

It is understood that the invention is not limited to the illustratedembodiment, but that there may bemany modifications and changes. Forexample, the lacing device and the hank remover may be of a differentconstruction, and may be positioned otherwise, for example, side by sidealong the straight portion of the endless path. The lacing device and/orthe hank remover may be of a stationary type and, instead, the reelingunits may be of such a construction that the cradle 11 is pivotabletoward the devices LD and HR for the finished hank thereon to be actedon by the devices. The drive rollers DR may be replaced by a motormounted on each reeling unit, with means for supplying electricity tothe motor on each unit as it circulates along the endless path.

What We claim is: V

1. An automatic reeling machine, comprising: a plurality of reelingunits each having a reel for a single hank to be wound thereon; meansfor defining an endless path; means for circulating said reeling unitsalong said endless path; means for rotating said reel on each saidreeling unit, thereby winding thread on said reel to form a hank; andmeans disposed adjacent said endless path for lacing said banks on saidreeling units.

2. The reeling machine of claim 1, further including means disposedadjacent said endless path for remoying the laced hanks from said reels.

3. The reeling machine of claim 2, wherein said endless path definingmeans comprises endless guide rail means.

4. The reeling machine of claim 3, wherein said reel rotating meanscomprises at least one elongated drive roller disposed along thestraight portion of said endless guide rail means.

5. The reeling machine of claim 4, wherein each said reeling unitcomprises a body, a cradle mounted on said body, a reel rotatablysupported by said cradle, roller means mounted on said body forrotationally contacting said endless guide rail means for said body tobe slidably supported thereby, a roller mounted on said body so as to bebrought into frictional contact with said elongated drive roller to berotated thereby, and belt and pulley means mounted on said cradle fordrive connection of said last-mentioned roller and said reel. I

6. The reeling machine of claim 1, wherein said circulating meanscomprises an elongated, flexible endless member connecting saidplurality of reeling units spaced a predetermined distance apart fromeach other.

7. The reeling machine of claim 3, wherein each said reeling unitcomprises a body, a cradle, a reel rotatably supported by said cradle,roller means mounted on said body for rotationally contacting saidendless guide rail means for said body to be slidably supported thereby,and means mounted on said body for rotating said reel.

8. The reeling machine of claim 5, wherein said cradle is selectivelymovable toward and away from said lacing 5, means and removing means sothat the hank that has been completely wound on each said reeling unitis acted on by said lacing means and removing means.

9. The reeling machine of claim 7, wherein said cradle is selectivelymovable toward and away from said lacing means and removing means sothat the hank that has been completely wound on each said reeling unitis acted on by said lacing means and removing means.

10. The reeling machine of claim 1, wherein said lacing.

means is movable along said endless path in opposite directions and alsotoward and away from said path.

11. The reeling machine of claim 2, wherein said re- 6 moving meansincludes means for selectively positioning in the path of said reel aseach said unit circulates so as to hook the laced hank oil the reel ofeach said reeling unit.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 663,925 12/1900 Nordman. 2821916,690 3/1909 Feren bach 28-21 3,323,189 6/1967 Hayashi 2821 LOUIS K.RIMRODT, Primary Examiner.

